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Good Stocks to Buy Now

Companies to help you cope with market volatility.

Put $100,000 into undervalued, dividend-paying stocks today. Through a combination of capital gains and reinvested yields, the market could turn that single lump sum into a $1 million fortune over the next 15 to 20 years.

That's the best advice I can give to a new investor, but it's hard advice to follow. First, $100,000 is not the kind of money folks have just lying around. I know I don't. Second, which stocks would you put it in if you did? There are nearly 3,000 dividend payers trading on the U.S. markets alone, and amid current volatility, there's no particular way to tell at a glance which are good buys.

The good news is that we can work around these limitations.

Invest moreThere are fewer barriers to investing today than ever before. Opinions on stocks are a dime a dozen online, and discount brokerages make it possible to buy and sell shares for as little as a few dollars from the comfort of our own homes.

Those are wonderful developments for individuals who seek to build a secure financial future. You don't need $100,000 to start investing. You can start with as little as $350 (the amount needed to keep commissions at 2% on a $7 trade). What kind of returns can you expect from such a small investment?

Good ones.

Constant consistencyWharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel has demonstrated that it's reasonable to expect a real return of approximately 6.5%. That's Siegel's constant -- and as Siegel told the Fool recently, he's pretty proud to have a constant named after him. Add inflation to that 6.5%, and you're looking at a nominal return of approximately 9%. Using the nominal rate, the stock market could deliver you a tidy $400,000 nest egg after 25 years of investing $350 each month. Not bad for only $105,000 of principal.

High yields and low pricesThe key to earning that return -- as Siegel points out in his research -- is reinvesting dividends. And the power of those dividends can be profound.

According to Siegel, the best-performing stock of the original S&P 500, which began in 1957, is Altria and its incredible 19.8% annualized return. Why has it done so well? Reinvested dividends.

Investor distaste for tobacco and fear of lawsuits kept Altria's price depressed while the company continued to pay out huge amounts of cash (the yield today is 5.8%). That meant investors could reinvest their dividends at lower prices, thereby supercharging returns.

And the rest of Siegel's S&P best is a who's-who of dividend growers:

Company

Annual Return (1957-2003)

Current Yield

Altria

19.8%

6.6%

Abbott Labs

16.5%

2.6%

Bristol-Myers Squibb

16.4%

7.1%

Tootsie Roll

16.1%

1.3%

Pfizer

16%

7.6%

Coca-Cola

16%

3.4%

Merck

15.9%

5.3%

PepsiCo

15.5%

3.2%

Colgate-Palmolive(NYSE:CL)

15.2%

2.6%

Crane(NYSE:CR)

15.1%

4.2%

H.J. Heinz(NYSE:HNZ)

14.8%

3.9%

Fortune Brands(NYSE:FO)

14.6%

4.5%

Kroger(NYSE:KR)

14.4%

1.4%

Schering-Plough(NYSE:SGP)

14.4%

1.8%

Today, many of these companies continue to boast yields above the S&P 500 average (2.4%).

The Foolish bottom lineThe answer to the "Which stocks?" question for many new investors, then, is easy: companies with above-average yields and below-average prices. Those are exactly the types of companies that Fool dividend gurus James Early and Andy Cross focus on in their Income Investor newsletter. To see some of their best ideas, click here to grab a 30-day guest pass to Income Investor. There is no obligation to subscribe.

And if you're not in the market at all, consider getting started -- even with only a few hundred dollars. Great investors like Warren Buffett have said their only investing regret is not having started sooner.

This article was originally published Feb. 10, 2006. It has been updated.

Tim Hansondoes not own shares of any company mentioned. Pfizer and Coca-Cola are Inside Value recommendations. Pfizer and Heinz are Income Investor recommendations. The Fool owns shares of Pfizer. No Fool is too cool for disclosure.